


Getting in Shape

by cinderella1147



Series: Off The Record [5]
Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 21:16:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13912371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderella1147/pseuds/cinderella1147
Summary: Between Season 2 and Season 3, around February 2013. Sloan is approached by a magazine that wants to feature her in an upcoming issue.





	Getting in Shape

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Set 2 months after "Fireworks", but you don't have to read that to understand this one. 
> 
> 2\. I'm well aware that the plot is not strong with this one. :) I wanted them to address their "status" sooner than they did in the show and I may have further plans with this magazine article that Sloan gets to do, so I thought it would be fun to write how it came about. 
> 
> 3\. Please let me know if I messed up the grammar anywhere. :)
> 
> 4\. Borrowing the characters from Mr. Sorkin until I can convince him that he should do a spin off with Don and Sloan.

Monday, February 4, 2013  
9:00AM  
BG Restaurant, Bergdorf Goodman

“Hi, Kate Davenport. It’s great to finally meet you in person.” The woman in her early 40s stood up when Sloan reached her table at the BG Restaurant. They shook hands and Sloan took a seat across from her.

“Great to meet you, too.”

After the waiter delivered their orders, Kate dived right in.

“As I mentioned over the phone, I’m Senior Editor at Shape magazine. We are currently planning our May issue, and we would like to interview you for a our “Professional Fit” feature. This is not a cover feature, but typically we do a photoshoot, select 2 or 3 photos for the spread, and include a page-long interview.”

“Wow.” Sloan was surprised. She’s been known to write a op-eds and articles for The Wall Street Journal and Time, and have been interviewed about economic issues for a number of national publications, but this was the first time a lifestyle magazine wanted to feature her in their print publication. “I have to admit, I’m a little surprised. I’m not sure I can see the intersection between economics and working out?”

Kate had a friendly smile, and seemed very enthusiastic about the prospect of getting Sloan on board with this idea. “It’s true, the main focus of Shape is about achieving a healthy lifestyle, working out, mental health, and so on, but we strongly feel that our readers need to see strong role models, who are successful in their careers, and at the same time able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Without a question, you are someone like that. You are obviously extremely smart, you have a really interesting and compelling career path, and, frankly, you always look smashing. Classy, but very sleek, modern. Simply put, you are the perfect woman to be featured in this segment. Please, say yes.” 

She was looking at Sloan with hopeful eyes, but Sloan was not convinced. She worked hard to be taken seriously in her chosen field, and while she knew that her reputation was strong, she wasn’t sure if this extra exposure was what she needed. 

“I’m flattered, truly. But before I say yes, I need to clarify a few things, and I hope you understand that I won’t compromise my professional integrity for a two-page feature.” Kate nodded for her to go on. “I want to read the final version before it goes to print and the power to veto whatever may be a misrepresentation of what I actually said. Same for the photos. I understand that you guys have a professional team who would obviously take the lead on this, but I’m not comfortable appearing in a magazine unless I can control the image. This is not a question of vanity, it’s a question of quality. I’m reporting on financial news every night, I can’t have the audience thinking about me in a sparkly bikini when I’m talking about commodity prices or interviewing the Chair of the Fed.”

“I completely understand.”

“Finally, I’m sure you are aware that about a year ago my ex posted photos of me on a website dedicated to this sort of thing. I’m not willing to talk about that topic, or react to any question that tries to pick on that subject.” She stopped for a beat to let her words linger in the air. “These are my conditions. They are non-negotiable.”

“To be honest, I suspected you would say this. I understand your motivation and in your shoes, I would do the same. We are willing to accept these conditions. The photos we imagined would be classy, sophisticated, and shot at ACN or in some other corporate setting, and the interview is not meant to be a tell-all, or a tabloid piece. We want to hear about how your professional milestones, favorite book, what you eat to stay healthy, what is your guilty pleasure, favorite workout when you only have 10 minutes… that sort of thing.” Again, she smiled, and though it was friendly, Sloan felt like she never met another person who smiled so much during an hour-long meeting. “We’ll prepare the contract and send it over to you for review. If all is well, we can sign it this week and nail down the logistics soon.”

“Perfect.” Sloan smiled back, but as she walked into her office some time later, she was still debating if this was a good idea at all. 

 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013  
1:38 PM  
SLOAN’S OFFICE  
ACN

Don had just finished outlining the rundown of the B-block to Sloan, and was gathering his things to leave when she stopped him.

“I need to ask you something.”  
“Okay, if this is about that half pizza you left at the office kitchen yesterday, you should know that I tried to resist, but I was just so hungry when we got done with broadcast last night that the thing didn’t stand a chance. I’m sorry. I’ll get you a pizza and a huge sundae this weekend as consolation. And wine. Definitely wine.”

She tilted her head to the side and let the silence clue him in.

“That’s not what you wanted to ask about, is it?”  
“Nope. But good to know where we stand on that, too.” She leaned forward in her chair and put her elbows on the desk. She looked like was about to give a deposition and it made him nervous that this was about something serious. 

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve been asked to do a feature in Shape. I wasn’t very interested, but I gave them my conditions to see how far we can get with negotiations and contracting. The thing is, they’ve agreed to everything I asked, and ACN Legal just cleared the draft contract that Shape prepared. Now it’s just waiting for my signature.”

“Okay. And what worries you? I assume you asked to approve the final version, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“So?”  
“I’m an economist, Don. I’m not a model, and I’m definitely not good with words when the topic is anything other than economics or finance. Tell me you understand how disastrous this could be? Even with my potential veto power.”

He looked at her with quiet admiration and shook his head a little.  
“Listen, I know that small talk may not be your strongest suit, but interviews are. You’re brilliant at it. This is just like that. Sure, you’ll be on the other side of the microphone, but you can still lead the conversation. Look at this as a work assignment. Do your prep, but be open to follow a new direction that may come up during the interview itself.” He paused for a second, “do you want me to be there? We can say I’m there in official capacity, representing ACN.”

She seemed to look relieved hearing a practical advice instead of empty reassurance.  
“Thanks. This helped. Let’s see how the logistics turn out, and if it can be managed, maybe you could join or stop by or something.”  
“Deal.”

She let out a small sigh. “I still expect pizza, sundae and wine this weekend, by the way.”  
“Obviously. But maybe don’t mention that in the interview with a magazine focusing on healthy living.”  
“Fair point. Won’t stop me from eating the pizza or sundae though. And wine is basically a fruit salad, so that doesn’t count.”  
He left with a smile on his face, and she turned back to her computer.  
‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought, and sent a quick email to Kate that she was ready to sign the papers. 

 

Saturday, February 23, 2013  
1:38 PM  
ACN BUILDING

Things happened relatively fast after she signed the contract. The photoshoot was set for Saturday, because it was impossible to align her work schedule during the week with the long hours the shoot was expected to take. They scouted the ACN Building for a suitable location and ended up reserving one of the smaller conference rooms on the 31st floor. They asked Sloan to show up at 9am for fittings, then they’d take photos of several different outfits. Finally, around 2 - 3 pm, she would sit down with a reporter to do the interview. 

By 1pm, they were on the 7th look of the day: a pair of grey, skinny jeans, a cream colored, sleeveless turtleneck, grey Pigalle Louboutins, deep red lipstick, understated makeup, and her hair in a sleek, high ponytail. Presently, she was sitting on the windowsill of the huge, wall-to-wall windows, and tried to look as nonchalant as possible with a team of 10 fussing around her. As the photographer kept clicking her camera, Sloan saw in the corner of her eyes that Don stepped in the room quietly. Her head turned involuntarily in his direction and their eyes locked for a long second. He gave her a warm, reassuring smile as the photographer continued to take photos. 

A few clicks later the photographer declared, “that’s it! This was brilliant, love!” She put down the camera. “I think we have everything. It’s a wrap, people!” 

Don motioned to the balcony with his head and she grabbed her jacket and wordlessly followed him out. The late Winter sunshine was a welcome change after the artificial lighting that had been directed at her for the past 3 hours.  
“How is it so far?”  
“Well, I’m rethinking my opposition to floral skirts, and I may have been gifted a new lipstick that I was fawning over. I think they felt sorry for me after I accidentally poured coffee all over *my own clothes* when I arrived here this morning. So, yeah, it’s going amazingly well.”

He smiled and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans in order to refrain from reaching out and holding her hand as he so wanted to. He was keenly aware of the glass doors between them and a crew of complete strangers inside. 

“You look beautiful.”

Her cheeks flushed softly, and she was about to say something bashful, when he saved her from that. “Not bad for an economist.”

She laughed, then rolled her eyes as she hit his shoulder without much force.  
“All right, Versace. Thanks for that. Now let me get through this interview so we can get back to normal things. What’s our movie of the week?”  
“Funny face,” he announced proudly. When nothing registered on her face, he elaborated: “bookworm, plain girl Audrey Hepburn becomes the face of a fashion campaign, and falls for the sarcastic and talented photographer, Fred Astaire. And they florrick around in Paris, Audrey exclusively in Givenchy dresses. You’ll love it.”  
She narrowed her eyes, but remembered that Don has been exceptionally good at predicting which movies she would like, so she nodded in agreement.  
“I gotta go back now. I’ll see you around 7.”

***

One hour later, her interview was finally wrapping up.  
“This was great, Sloan, thanks so much. Just one last question before we leave?”  
“Sure.”  
“How do you balance your work and your personal life? You have a grueling schedule at ACN, you teach at Columbia twice a week, yet you manage to find the time to work out, go out on dates, go out with friends? In other words, how do you do it all?”

The question, though not unrealistic, caught her off guard. As she took a moment to think about her answer, she realized how intertwined her personal and professional life really was. The time she spends working at ACN, she’s also spending with her friends, and… Don. When she’s working out, it’s usually with Mac, but increasingly often Don would join as well, and sometimes she would drag Maggie with her, too. ‘Going out on dates’ meant only Don for almost five months now, so all in all, she never felt like she was making compromises, or that her life was about professional vs. personal success.

“Honestly, it’s not a conscious effort. My work and personal life are connected in so many different levels, it’s not actually a deliberate decision of trying to fit everything into my day, it’s just happens. I’m at work at ACN for most of the day and sometimes well into the night, but at the same time I’m also with my friends, and the people I respect the most. Sometimes we go to a local bar after the broadcast, and we might be talking about the next day’s show, or the issues from the day before, but we might be having a personal conversation. So, it’s all mixed together and I love that.” 

“That’s really great. If I may, does that also mean that you are currently seeing someone from ACN?”

 

Saturday, February 23, 2013  
7:08 PM  
DON’S APARTMENT

“So, how did it go?”  
“Good. Great. I think I managed to avoid saying anything too embarrassing. Maybe. Probably. Ok, that’s not true. It was going fine, then at the very end she asked about work -life balance, and I responded by saying that my personal life and my work are so connected that it’s not really a struggle to balance it. To which she responded by asking if I’m currently seeing someone from ACN.” At first she was pacing, but now she stood in the middle of the living room and looked like she was about to bolt.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what did you say?”

“I babbled.”

“Oh boy.”

“Yeah.”

Don poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her. 

“She took me by surprise! Don’t tell me you would have reacted any better. We never discussed the fine prints of this- well, whatever this is. And I’m more than fine with that, but I think we should have a game plan for whenever that question is raised by someone.” 

“We totally should.” He looked nervous. “So, what kind of game plan do you want?’  
“Me? What about you?”  
“I’m fine with whatever you say. Sort of.”  
“Ugh. I hate this. I’m not equipped to handle these discussions.” She started pacing again.

He let out a deep breath and nodded. Truth be told, he wasn’t that brilliant at these things either. His relationship with Maggie was evidence of that. But he really, really didn’t want to screw this up.

“I’m not too great at it, either. Listen, obviously, neither of us are ready for a big heart-to-heart about ‘where this is going’ or anything like that. But, personally, I like where we are. Right now. I like spending time with you, watching movies, or hanging out with our friends. I like that we don’t feel the need to fill the silence all the time, and sometimes our plan for the night is to just work side by side. And I especially like that there’s no pretense between us: when you don’t like something you say it, and you’re not mad if I have an opinion that’s different than yours.” He put one hand behind his neck, maybe in frustration that she was so hard to read right now. He couldn’t figure out if what he was saying was getting through to her or not. 

“I guess, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t need us to figure out what we are, and I think it’s okay if we keep vague when anyone asks. Our friends know that we’ve been seeing each other, but I think that’s the extent of it. To everyone else,-”

She interrupted:  
“To everyone else, we’ll just say, none of your fuckin’ business.”

He smiled and took a moment to openly stare at her in relief and admiration, then pulled her close to him by grabbing her waist. Once they were so close that she had to tilt her head back to look at him, he kissed her with no sign of the nerves he felt minutes ago. He was solid, confident, and intent on reassuring her that that this was, in fact, no one else’s business. Just theirs.

“Let’s get back to our regular programming for the night,” hummed Sloan once they parted. “Also, can we order a pizza now? Catering only had steamed vegetables, kale chips, and fresh fruit for the photoshoot. These people are completely nuts. I was ready to kill someone for a donut. Eventually, I had sneak out, go down to my office and find the half-eaten Snickers I had left there on Friday. Remind me to thank Tess for interrupting me yesterday while I was eating it, otherwise the interview would have turned into a 2-minute report on the 10 o’clock news about an ACN anchor losing it.”

He ordered her pizza by heart, and didn’t dwell on the fact that he knew her preferences without asking. Soon, with the pizza, wine and beer in front of them, they settled in for the movie. The opening credits were halfway through when Sloan spoke up:  
“You know, for the fact that you are “not great” at these discussions, that was a pretty excellent way to handle it.”

“Yeah, I guess I work best under stress.”

“Stress?”

“I was under a considerable amount of stress, because it seemed like you were 5 seconds away from walking out the door. Didn’t want that to happen.”

Sloan studied his face, which had a certain vulnerability that she didn’t seen often, then with a small smile she announced:  
“Mission accomplished.”


End file.
